How do freshwater flows, or lack thereof, affect the marine life downstream?

The drought that set upon the United States this year is affecting marine life and a valuable fishing economy downstream in the Deep South’s Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, the most biodiverse river system in North America. When flows from freshwater streams are low, higher salinity levels bring conchs, oyster drills, oyster crabs, and other predators to the Apalachicola Bay. This can translate to decreased oyster numbers in Florida’s Franklin County, which accounts for 90 percent of the state’s oyster harvest. Click the infographic below to learn more.

Florida accounts for about 10 percent of the total U.S. oyster harvest. The state’s oyster industry is concentrated in the Apalachicola Bay area, where it employs approximately 2,500 people in Franklin County, so it is the local economy that will be hit hardest by oyster declines. Oysters are an important part of Florida’s seafood industry, but the oyster harvest is not the biggest in terms of total pounds, nor is it the most highly valued when compared with the state’s other fishery landings.